Sword of Destruction, Sword of Life
by Traitor of All Traitors
Summary: Say Shinji was given a pair of swords that once belonged to a benevolent being from ancient times, and say he could use them to benefit himself and those he couldn't help but want to protect? And what if these swords were able to crush the strong and revive the weak? A sword that destroys…and a sword that heals.
1. New Master

Creation began on 06-09-15

Creation ended on 06-09-15

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Sword of Destruction, Sword of Life: New Master

A/N: Another original.

"…You," Shinji heard someone say. "You, young man."

He turned around and saw an elderly man that looked a little on the scrawny side, dressed in a baggy outfit with green and black, horizontal stripes. In addition, he also noticed what looked like two swords on his back.

"Me?" He asked him.

"Yes, you," the man responded, and removed the two swords off his back. "You'll need these."

Before Shinji could even decline, having never used a sword before, the elder forced the swords onto him, and he held them in his hands.

"You'll understand in due time," the elder told him. "You're the new master. Treat the swords with respect, and they'll serve you to the end."

He then ran off, something most elders couldn't do at such an advanced age, making Shinji consider that this guy wasn't as old as he appeared.

Shinji then left to home with the swords, unsure of why anyone would even give him anything like that. It wasn't like he was special or even knew anything about swords. Then again, a pair of swords were likely better than the Eva itself, which the elder didn't even seem to know anything about.

In his room, he set the swords on his bed and took a better look at them. The first sword, when unsheathed, was rather unsuitable as a weapon and more of an antique, for the blade was rusty, heavily chipped in places, and its hilt's fabric was tearing away. It was a katana, but it looked like it hadn't been tended to for a long time.

"I'd better keep you covered so as to not break you," he decided, and carefully re-sheathed the sword. "Time to look at the other sword."

Unsheathing the second sword, he found it to be another katana, but unlike its sibling, this one was undamaged and looked like it had been well-taken care of over its history. The blade was clean, polished, and the fabric on the hilt was undamaged, like it had never been used or whoever had it last took great care of it.

"Whoa," he expressed, admiring the craftsmanship that went into making this sword. "Hmm? What's this here on the sheath?"

On the sheath of the sword, there was an inscription he hadn't noticed earlier. It read, _"Tenseiga, the Sword of Life"_.

"Tenseiga?" He said, and then looked at the sheath of the other sword, finding another inscription that he hadn't noticed before. "This one says, _'Tessaiga, the Sword of Destruction'_. Tessaiga and Tenseiga? Destruction and Life?"

-x-

"Well, Totosai," went a male voice in the shadows of the small room to the elderly man that had given Shinji the swords, "did you give the boy my swords?"

"Yes, my Lord," the elder, Totosai, answered. "Are you sure he was best suited for them?"

"Now that my sons have passed on, I require a new successor," the man in the shadows expressed. "He has compassion, values life and will do what is within his power to defend it, honor it, treasure it. Only a compassionate heart and soul can wield my swords…and only a compassionate heart and soul can bring out their true powers as swords that cut the strong and heal the weak."

-x-

"Huh?" Shinji gasped, finding himself floating in the sky, seeing a strange land beneath him. "Where am I?"

"Wind Scar!" He heard someone shout out, and he saw a young man in red robes with long, white hair, wielding a large sword that looked as though it required great strength to carry, and watched as some form of energy was unleashed from the blade against an army of monsters, destroying them in a blinding display.

Next to the man in red, he saw an older man with long, white hair, dressed in armor and white and black robes, using a regular-looking sword to cut down strange creatures that wore appeared over a little girl that looked like she had been mauled by an animal. He slayed the creatures, that disappeared without so much as leaving pieces of themselves on the ground, and the little girl awoke, looking better, like she hadn't been harmed.

Shinji then saw the two facing each other with the swords, and the one wielded by the one in red had changed into a sword resembling the battered katana that he had, but then saw it change back into the oversized blade, but then changed into a blade that looked like it was made of diamond shards, which were then flung whenever he swung it around.

"Sword of Destruction," Shinji uttered. "Sword of Life."

To be continued…

A/N: Well, here's the first chapter. I hope the next chapter will be made shortly, where Shinji will learn why he was given the swords and what he can do with them. I wonder which sword he'll come to favor more, Tessaiga or Tenseiga?


	2. Compassion

Creation began on 06-09-15

Creation ended on 06-10-15

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Sword of Destruction, Sword of Life: Compassion

It took no effort to know that Shinji was worried about Misato and Toji when he heard about the Unit-03 incident an hour ago. And, to the confusion and curiosity of some of the personnel, why he brought a sword with him when he looked like he didn't know anything about how to use one.

" _It's just an antique,"_ Shinji said to anyone that asked about it. _"A good luck charm."_

 _I hope this sword is what that dream I had showed it as,_ Shinji thought, fearing for the worst if anything happened to Misato or Toji, as he sat in the Entry Plug of Unit-01.

Suddenly, as the sun began to set, Shinji saw an obscured figure approaching the area he and the other Evas were positioned. It resembled an Eva, but wrapped in darkness.

"That's an Eva," he expressed, and took a hold of Tenseiga for comfort.

"It's an Angel now," Gendo told him.

That wasn't what Shinji expected to hear, let alone hear from his father, but what he feared beyond this revelation was the possibility that Toji was still inside the possessed Eva.

-x-

In the darkness, Toji found himself surrounded by strange creatures wearing large marbles or prayer beads and carrying spears.

"What are you?" He questioned.

"We," said one of them in response to his question, "are the demons of the afterlife, and we're here to take you to where you need to go, as your heart has stopped within your flesh."

"What? My heart has stopped? You mean…I'm dead?"

"That's right," said another of the demons to him.

"No. No, I mean… I need to go home. I need to see my sister. She'll be waiting for me."

"You don't understand, boy," the third demon said to him. "You can never go back. You're dead. The dead can never go back."

-x-

He refused to attack the Eva and risk harming his friend, and Gendo ordered the activation of an autopilot system that took control of Unit-01 from him. He couldn't do anything but watch as the Eva, against his will, rip Unit-03 to shreds…and crush the Entry Plug.

Suddenly, the sword, Tenseiga, began pulsating, almost as if alive or something.

 _Shinji Ikari,_ he heard a voice in his head. _You can save him before it's too late. Swing me. See the demons of the afterlife. Drive them away, and you'll save your friend._

Shinji grabbed Tenseiga, and suddenly saw a trio of creatures similar to the ones he saw in his dream, surrounding the crushed plug of Unit-03.

 _I can…see them,_ he thought, and unsheathed the sword, seeing the blade glowing brightly. _But there's not enough room to swing the sword._

 _Just swing,_ he heard the voice again. _It doesn't matter if it's long or short, so long as you swing. Swing, and your friend will be saved. Save your friend._

And Shinji swung the blade. It was a short swing, due to being in the plug, but he saw the blade unleash a wave of light that went towards the crushed plug.

 _Please,_ he prayed, _save Toji. Please._

-x-

GASP! The trio of demons stopped trying to take Toji with them, as they felt assaulted by an unknown energy.

"You're a lucky fellow," one of them told him, releasing him from their grip, "someone has revived you from death. It is not your time today. But heed this warning. You cannot evade your demise forever."

Moments later, the demons faded away…and Toji was bathed in a warm light. He closed his eyes…and then opened them again, seeing he was on a stretcher in front of Unit-01.

"I'm…I'm alive?" He questioned.

"You're a lucky young man," a paramedic told him. "You were almost crushed, but these things you kids get put in are dense."

Within Unit-01, having witnessed the revival of his friend, Shinji re-sheathed Tenseiga and uttered, "Thank you, Tenseiga. Thank you."

To be continued…

A/N: Shinji finally uses one of his swords and saves a life. What do you think? I get that the chapter's short, but the story will progress in due time.


	3. Desire

Creation began on 06-10-15

Creation ended on 07-20-15

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Sword of Destruction, Sword of Life: Desire

The remains of Unit-03 were being collected and disposed of, but Misato was unsure of how to address the situation with Shinji, whom she was sure was being detained for his alleged insubordination against the possessed Eva in fear of harming his friend.

"Should you be up so soon with your injuries?" She heard Ritsuko ask her, sporting a bandaged head.

"I can still work," she responded. "This is awful. A total loss."

"Yeah."

-x-

"…Well, your tests all came back in the green," a physician told Toji, having had said boy put through a battery of tests to determine his medical condition more thoroughly. "You're good to go, Mr. Suzuhara. Just fill out this release form."

Toji took the clipboard from the physician and signed his signature and gave it back.

As he stepped out of the room, he bumped into Hikari, who seemed flushed at the sight of him.

"Class Rep," he greeted her by her designation.

"Suzuhara," she greeted back.

"What are you doing here?"

"Following my school duties as Class Representative."

"Oh."

"So…you're alright, I hear."

"Yeah. The doctors all say that I'm lucky."

"That's good to hear."

"Class Rep?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks."

-x-

Shinji closed the door to his locker in the men's room, hoping he'd never have to go through it again as he gathered his personal effects and stepped out into the hallway. He had resigned from NERV, unwilling to pilot the Eva again if it meant that his father was going to activate an autopilot system that would take control from him whenever he was against fighting an Angel when an innocent life was in the crossfire. And the worst of it was that his father was completely indifferent to the possibility of killing people so long as the Angels were dealt with, viewing the lives taken as meaningless. But Shinji wasn't going to be a killer simply because his father was in charge of NERV, as he now viewed that fact as a major mistake on someone else's part, since the guy was unable or unwilling to allow the possibility of saving someone from the Angels.

But now, now he had the means to ensure that people could be saved from the Angels…and his father. He had the means to ensure that the Eva wouldn't be needed again. Maybe he was crazy to believe in such things, but he saw the Tenseiga revive his friend, and that was enough to convince him that the swords were powerful and could be used to actually save people more than the Eva.

-x-

"…Erase the Third Child from all records," went Gendo to Ritsuko over the phone. "The First Child is the designated pilot of Unit-01…with the Dummy Plug as a backup."

Fuyutsuki, who was present when Shinji was brought into his father's office, was surprised at the boy's confidence in not wanting to pilot the Eva any longer if it meant having to listen to his father and take an innocent life…and wasn't as surprised by Gendo's indifference towards this conclusion.

But Gendo, on the other hand, wasn't too concerned with his son's departure. He was confident that, given the next Angel's arrival, the Third Child would return to pilot the Eva. There was no belief or faith in something drawing the boy back, but just the weight of humanity being forced onto his shoulders that would simply make him realize that he needed Unit-01.

-x-

"…He seemed relieved," went Toji to Hikari, talking about Shinji as they walked into the trauma ward to see the former's sister.

"Relieved?" Hikari questioned, confused.

"After he saw me in one piece, after he resigned from NERV, Shinji looked…relieved after leaving."

"But how can he seem relieved after everything that happened?"

"Probably the thought of never having to see his father again. Although, that's just a possibility. Since I met him, Shinji has never been close with his old man. Actually, it's the complete opposite."

"His father's not close to him? That's awful."

"From what Shinji says, his old man's a complete jerk."

They entered a room…and saw a little girl in a bed with a bandage on her head.

"Hey, sis," Toji greeted the girl.

"Big Brother," the girl greeted back.

-x-

Looking at the Tessaiga on his bed, Shinji hoped that it was what his dream had showed it to be, and picked it up.

Okay, he thought, unsheathing the sword, seeing that the katana blade, looking better than the previous time he examined it, started to glow brightly. Whoa!

Its blade grew in height and length, becoming a large, curved blade that was identical to the one he saw in his dream. But what surprised him the most was the lightness of the sword. It felt liked it weighed next to nothing, but from the look of the blade, it could cut through almost anything.

Shinji waved it around to test his ability to move it, and wondered if he could live up to the previous owner of the sword.

"Shinji?" He heard Misato outside his room, and he quickly re-sheathed the sword and put it away with the Tenseiga. "Shinji?"

"In here, Misato," he called her, and she slid the door open to see him.

When he saw her, he was surprised to see her arm in a cast and her face bandaged.

"They wouldn't tell me if you were hurt or not," he told her.

"I'm likely to recover in about a month's time or less," she explained the recovery time of her arm. "I was told that you resigned."

"Yeah, I did."

"Why?"

"I'm sure you already know the answer to that."

"Because of what happened with Suzuhara?"

"That's right."

"But he survived."

"No thanks to that man. He almost made me kill him, just to defeat the Angel. I couldn't and wouldn't do that, not while there was a chance to save him."

"But if they hadn't used the Dummy Plug, you might've been killed, Shinji."

"That's not the point, Misato. And even if it were so, I'd rather it be my life than someone else's. I'm not going to pilot the Eva again if it means I have to come close to being forced to harm someone when I'd rather save them."

-x-

Alarms were going off like crazy when the next Angel arrived. People were evacuated to the shelters…except for Shinji, who had gone to the hillside of Tokyo-3 with his swords.

Whatever he thought he was capable of against the Angel, he just hoped that he could stop it on his own without the Eva, just these two swords.

The sight of the new Angel was enough to make Shinji almost wet his pants. Almost. But as much as he wanted to run right now, because he was just a civilian and not an Eva pilot, he couldn't do so just yet, not when he needed to see for himself if he could save the people on his own.

"Here goes," he uttered to himself, unsheathing the Tessaiga…and its blade grew to its true form. "Whoa, boy."

-x-

"…Position Unit-02 in front of HQ," went Misato, wishing the Angel hadn't penetrated so many layers of armor in a single blast.

However, before the technicians could carry out the order, before anyone could even carry out the desire to worry in excess over the Angel's impending intrusion into the Geo-Front, the external cameras picked up a large, blinding light from somewhere…and it enveloped the Angel. When it faded, the left side of the target had been incinerated, exposing its innards and various muscles and nerves.

"What was that?!" Ritsuko demanded.

"An unknown energy signature appeared out of nowhere," one of the technicians explained as best they could on the monitors.

-x-

Panting from the exhilaration of his first swing with the sword, Shinji dropped the oversized blade to the ground as he caught his breath.

"Whoa," he gasped, feeling like it wasn't just the blade that attacked the Angel, that it was him that punched it around before dousing it in gasoline and lighting a match. "I gotta end this quickly."

Raising the blade up for the second time, a gathering of random currents of wind surrounded the young man's body like before. He focused solely on defeating the Angel, protecting the people from it, and preventing extensive, collateral damage to the city.

As the Angel appeared to begin the process of regenerating its loss and damaged tissues (and because its core was intact), Shinji willed himself to finish what he started.

"Wind Scar!" He shouted, and swung the blade, unleashing another stream of destructive energy towards the Angel.

It enveloped the enemy in light…and left nothing behind when it faded away.

He'd done it. He'd defeated the Angel.

-x-

"The…the target's…gone?" Ritsuko questioned.

"There's no trace of the Angel's signature," went Maya.

Gendo, however, was infuriated over this discovery. The Eva hadn't gone up against the Angel, and the Third Child hadn't come back to pilot Unit-01.

-x-

Laying on the grass as he recovered, with his swords re-sheathed and at his side, Shinji looked up at the calm sky, content with his achievement.

"Hey, kid, you should be in a shelter," he heard a woman say to him, unaware of the Angel's status as deceased or that the danger had passed. "Kid?"

"If anyone asks," he responded to her, "I'm just taking a nap."

To be continued…

A/N: Zeruel has been dealt with by two Wind Scar attacks, NERV never got its chance to intercept it, and Gendo was stood up by Shinji and his swords.


	4. Confidants

Creation began on 07-20-15

Creation ended on 07-23-15

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Sword of Destruction, Sword of Life: Confidants

Misato was surprised when she saw Shinji inside the apartment, cooking and looking like he had an air of peace around him.

Asuka, whose temper hadn't quelled over the fact that something other than NERV had defeated the most recent Angel, wasn't even curious to why he was still here.

"Welcome back," he greeted them, revealing that he was preparing a lasagna.

"Shinji, I thought you were still at a shelter," Misato expressed, not expecting him to be before she and Asuka. "I mean, the Angel showed up and then… I don't know, something attacked it and destroyed it."

Shinji simply shrugged this revelation off as he placed a bowl of cooked fish and lasagna on the floor for Pen-Pen, who suddenly showed up and began gobbling up his meal.

"That sounds unlikely, since only an Eva has been able to face an Angel," he responded. "Of course, I was in a shelter…for, like, eight minutes. Then, I left back here. I never saw the Angel beyond my only glimpse of it as it showed up. I just assumed that Asuka and Ayanami dealt with it, so I put it out of my mind."

Misato was about to speak up about how impossible it was for either girl to take out an Angel powerful enough to penetrate over fifteen layers of armor, but was quickly silenced by the sight of a canned beer Shinji held in front of her.

"Thank you," she sighed, and consumed the alcoholic beverage.

-x-

With the Angel's early demise, Unit-00 had more time to regenerate its missing arm, though Gendo was displeased. Then again, nothing short of having his way with everything or everyone pleased him at all.

He felt like God, or whoever he viewed with much contempt was taunting him with what happened earlier today. Since Unit-01 didn't face the Angel and obtain its S², he couldn't progress any further with his scenario, and the Third Child hadn't return to pilot the Eva.

"Unit-00 should be fully functional in two more days' time," went Ritsuko to him, informing him of the prototypical Eva's estimated time of repair.

"Has there been any progress in finding the energy signature that destroyed the Angel?" He asked her.

"There's been no trace of the energy signature, and there's been no reports of anything unusual."

As Unit-00 continued to regenerate its missing limb, Ritsuko had to point out the improbability of ever finding the source of the Angel's demise.

"Sir, with all due respect, there's very little chance of us ever finding the source," she expressed. "The MAGI have been unable to find a solution to how the signature was able to destroy the Angel with enough force to rival an N² weapon."

"It is imperative that we find this signature and the cause of the Angel's demise," Gendo responded, making it known that he wanted this mystery solved.

-x-

A few more days went by until Shinji decided to call over Toji and Kensuke. The reason behind this was to explain to them the phenomena he was now involved in with the swords. Also, it was because he needed to tell someone he felt he could trust with keeping the nature of his swords a secret. He could've tried telling Ayanami, but decided against it, as there was always the possibility that her relationship with his father would cause her to reveal to him what he was now capable of. And then, there was Misato and Asuka, whom he also couldn't trust with the secret for different reasons.

While Misato and Asuka were at NERV, Toji (who was discharged from NERV after the Unit-03 incident) and Kensuke arrived at the apartment.

"Hey," Shinji greeted them.

"Hey, Shinji," they responded.

They stepped inside and Shinji offered them tea.

"So, what did you need to see us about?" Toji asked him as they sat in the living room.

Kensuke noticed that Shinji was sitting beside a pair of swords that just seemed out of place for someone like him.

"A few days ago, a man ran into me and gave me these two swords," he explained, picking up the Tessaiga. "But I found that these weren't ordinary swords. This is the Sword of Destruction. The Tessaiga."

"You really expect us to believe that sword is capable of destruction?" Kensuke asked him, and then Shinji showed them its true form, unsheathing the blade. "Whoa!"

"I was able to defeat the last Angel with this," he revealed, and then re-sheathed the blade.

Then, he picked up the Tenseiga.

"This is the Tenseiga, the Sword of Life. I was able to save Toji with it in the Unit-03 incident."

"What?!l" Toji gasped. "But… I thought I dreamt that whole thing."

"What do you remember?"

"Dying, a bunch of monsters saying that I had died, and then saying that I was lucky, and then they left me alone."

"So you really think you died in the Eva and…Shinji used this sword to bring you back to life?" Kensuke questioned.

"How else would you explain why he's here, still breathing?" Shinji asked him, not trying to discourage him, but wanting his opinion.

"Hallucinations, perhaps?" He suggested. "They've been known to happen under duress."

"It couldn't have been that," went Toji. "When those creatures said I was dead, I almost gave up on ever returning home."

A silence was upon the three now, as they were processing this information.

"So…you traded in your position as a pilot…for these swords?" Kensuke asked Shinji.

"I wouldn't say 'traded'," Shinji responded, "but a means to help people without the Eva…is something I can live with, so long as I never have to do something against my will. Can I trust that you two won't tell anyone about this?"

"To the guy that saved my life," went Toji, "I can keep my mouth shut about this."

"Oh, I don't know, man," Kensuke expressed. "You should be the talk of the city. Imagine the headlines: 'Teen Boy uses Supernatural Swords to save Tokyo-3 from Angel'. They'd probably give you a medal for heroism."

"Kensuke, I wouldn't want for anyone to suffer because of me. I've hated piloting the Eva ever since I got here. It's a thankless duty. Everyday, I constantly worry that the next Angel I face will be the one that I don't walk away from. Now, I can walk away from the Eva…but not the Angels just yet. And I prefer keeping the nature of my swords confidential. Not everyone wants to be the center of attention or has the good of the people in mind. If NERV ever found out, they'd likely take them from me…and I wouldn't be able to do anything about the Angels."

As much as the military otaku wanted to tell someone, the fact that his friend and former Eva pilot feared what could happen if NERV found out made him hold his tongue right now. It was during times like this that the government spent more time hiding than revealing long-hidden secrets, anything from the nature of the Evas to the very goal of the Angels themselves. There was no doubt in his mind that the government kept locked away many objects that were probably supernatural, and they'd probably do the same to Shinji's swords if they discovered them, and Shinji needed them.

"Okay, Shinji," he gave in. "I won't tell anyone about them."

"Thanks, Kensuke," Shinji praised him.

-x-

In the dead of the night, in the realm of dreams, Shinji found himself in the presence of Tessaiga and Tenseiga's previous masters.

"So long as you have compassion," the young man in red spoke up.

"And kindness of heart," the older man in armor added.

"Tessaiga and Tenseiga have no limits to what they are capable of achieving," they both finished to him.

Shinji later saw the Tessaiga in the younger man's possession, in the midst of a fierce battle, change from a large blade to the blade that looked like it was made of diamond shards, and then into a blade that had a back made to resemble the scale-like design of a reptilian creature. Then, the blade changed again into a blade that was so unique, Shinji thought that someone had, somehow, placed bits of the cosmos into the form of said blade, for he saw stars in the majority of the darkness present.

"Tessaiga is a sword whose purpose is to cut," he heard the man in red say to him. "To cut is harm your opponent before they can do harm to you or those you want to protect."

Next, he saw the Tenseiga being used in a dark and miserable place, unleashing light to a legion of creatures in the shadows, following a desire to save them from their suffering.

"As a blade that isn't meant to harm those of the living, Tenseiga may appear to be useless," the man in armor told him, "but its specialty resides in that it can harm what is not a part of the mortal realm. Spirits of darkness and intangible forms with malicious intentions can be cut down by Tenseiga's purity to unleash light in the darkness."

Shinji had also seen him use Tenseiga to demonstrate its inability to cause harm to living creatures…by slashing at a small creature that carried a strange staff with two heads on it.

Incredible, he thought.

-x-

School was different this time, as Shinji spent more time with his friends, his confidants.

"…So, I've asked out the Class Rep.," went Toji to them during lunch.

"No way!" Kensuke gasped. "You and her?!"

"Didn't see that coming," added Shinji.

As they continued, back in the classroom, Rei Ayanami, left in solitude at her desk, just looked out the window and pondered about the early demise of the latest Angel…and what could've dealt with it if not an Eva.

For all she and NERV knew, there was simply no way.

Beyond her, with Hikari, Asuka complained about Shinji's so-called lack of worry against the Angels ever since he resigned from being a pilot.

While Hikari did listen, she wondered why the redhead complained about the boy when she confessed to hating him (though, this hatred may have extended to all boys in general).

"…I mean, how can he act so calmly about this when he knows that the next attack could destroy all of mankind?" Asuka went on, wolfing down her lunch. "He shouldn't have time to take it easy at all! Who does he think he is, anyway?!"

"Have you tried asking him?" Hikari suggested for her.

"No way, since no answer he'd give me would be sufficient enough."

-x-

"Well, Unit-00 has been fully repaired," Ritsuko informed Misato, earlier that same day.

"Great," the purple-haired woman responded, absent-minded; her mind was elsewhere at the moment, wondering about Shinji was doing.

"We still can't track the unknown signature that appeared that day," the faux-blond added.

"Maybe we'll never find it," Misato suggested. "It could've been a one-time thing."

"Still, it's imperative that we find it, whatever it is."

But Misato didn't expect NERV would ever find this unknown energy signature that destroyed the Angel, as it might've been something comparable to the Evas: Beyond their comprehension.

-x-

As Asuka left to the Geo-Front after school, Shinji returned to the apartment. Though he had no intention of spending much of his time there. It was just to pick up the Tessaiga and Tenseiga and venture off to the countryside to meet up with Toji and Kensuke. The plan was to try and put in some practice with the Tessaiga and see what it was capable of when more effort was put into wielding it. His first usage of it against the Angel was beginner's luck, and he needed to be stronger so as to not rely on luck next time.

 _Why do I feel more relief after telling those_ _two?_ He wondered, retrieving his swords and leaving out the apartment. _It must be what most superheroes feel after including select civilians into their fold and telling them secrets._

To be continued…

A/N: And here's a new chapter right here. What do you think so far?


	5. In the Night

Creation began on 08-02-15

Creation ended on 08-02-15

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Sword of Destruction, Sword of Life: In the Night

A/N: Let's suppose that Shinji decides to go out into the city with Tenseiga and perform a public service to the people.

As the majority of the population of the city slept in the night, Shinji, who was unable to find sleep, wandered about the streets with his Tenseiga, seeing dozens of afterlife creatures that were out to claim that dying souls. And every time he swung the sword to send them away, he felt the people return to life with a feeling of a second chance to do better than they probably didn't in their earlier years.

 _So long as it's used for benevolent reasons and not for personal gain, there's no limit to what it is capable of doing,_ thought Shinji, as he left the hospital after swinging Tenseiga at least two times to drive away the afterlife demons. _And this isn't for personal gain. It's just giving the people their lives back. I don't get anything in return for this. There's no benefits, no payment, no gratitude or anything of the sort. Even though it would be nice to be thanked for doing this, that would make it personal, and I can't have it become personal._

-x-

By the time the sun began to rise, Shinji had spent at least four hours out in the city, and returned to Misato's apartment and crashed onto his futon for some much-needed rest.

Hopefully, the people would be more…livelier than before the Angels showed up.

-x-

GASP! Ryoji Kaji awoke to the foul odor that permeated the place he was lying in.

"I'm…I'm alive?" He questioned, getting up and checking himself for the gunshots that injured and caused him blood loss that contributed to his alleged death…and not finding or feeling anything that wasn't supposed to be there. "I'm alive. I gotta get outta here."

He ran out of the place, hidden in the Geo-Front, wanting only to get as far away from NERV HQ as possible…and to contact Misato so that he could say the words he couldn't say so long ago when they were dating.

To be continued…

A/N: So what do you think of this chapter? This was mainly due to my distraction with the in-progress chapter of The Fall of Ra, but it's getting close to completion. Do review, please.


	6. Joy

Creation began on 08-13-15

Creation ended on 09-25-15

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Sword of Destruction, Sword of Life: Joy

A/N: Things in Tokyo-3 are about to get lively.

RING-RING! The phone in the apartment rang, and Misato picked up.

"This is Katsuragi," she said. "Who is this?"

"It's me, Katsuragi," went Kaji on the other end. "I promised if I was ever to contact you again, I'd say the words I couldn't say long ago. I love you."

Tears ran down the sides of Misato's face, realizing that Kaji had managed to survive whatever had happened to him when he left her what he had thought would be his last message.

In his room, overhearing the conversation from his guardian's side, Shinji smiled as he clenched his right hand on the Tenseiga's scabbard.

-x-

The citizens of the city were out and about, reveling in the feeling of a sudden reprieve from sudden sickness and death. Children were running, women could be seen shopping for food and necessities, and men were working to move large crates and boxes. It was a day that was unlike any of the previous days in Tokyo-3, and the hospitals and clinics were being emptied of former patients, with the medical staff confused as to how these people, either sick with advanced illnesses or were recently amputated of an arm or leg, were suddenly well again.

Toji Suzuhara had arrived to pick up his sister, Sakura, whom the doctors called him about to inform him that she was well enough to go home.

The little girl, with a tomboyish appearance, short, dark hair and bluish-green eyes, smiled as her big brother arrived to come get her.

Toji was amazed by her rapid recovery, like something magical occurred almost overnight. He suspected that a certain someone had a hand in the people's sudden uptick in the activity going on in the city.

"You ready to go home?" He asked Sakura.

"Yes," she answered him. "Let's go home."

-x-

In the park, by a bench, Misato waited for Kaji to show up.

"Misato?" She heard his voice behind her, in the bushes nearby.

"Kaji," she greeted him. "I thought you were dead."

"That's what I thought, too. I found myself in a dark place, unable to see anything. Until a light shone on my face, and I found myself back in the place where I fell."

-x-

"…All medical facilities around the city were deprived of sick and injured people," Ritsuko revealed to Gendo in his office, having noticed more people out and about than normal. "Every patient, sick, dying or with an amputated limb or two, perfectly well and feeling as though they've been reprieved from whatever was ailing them. None of the medical staff could understand why this was so."

"Could it have been caused by a new type of Angel?" He suggested, there was no new treatments available to the public to cause these happenings that were seen as miracles, such as the removal of an incurable disease like AIDS or the regeneration of amputated limbs.

"No detection of any blue patterns were made known through the MAGI, and it wouldn't make any sense to why an Angel would do anything like this to people. As a whole, they view mankind as an enemy, and seek to exterminate us. Unless this is some kind of battle tactic, there's little doubt that this is the work of an Angel."

-x-

Over in the countryside, Shinji wandered around to be alone with his thoughts and his swords, deciding to get some more practice with them.

 _The people are so lively today,_ he thought, finding an open field large enough to practice his sword swings and slashes. _Even the elderly were running in the park with their grandchildren._

Tying the sheaths of his swords to his belt, he stood in front of a large tree and unsheathed the Tessaiga, transforming it into its true form. He swung at the air several times, pretending that he was under attack by scores of people with the intention of taking the swords from him. What was unusual right now to him was that, with the minor exception of his experience with the Progressive Knife, Shinji knew nothing of swordsmanship or how to use a sword to its full potential, but here he was right now, using the Tessaiga as though he had been using it his entire life. It felt like it had no weight at all, but could cut through the densest of tangible barriers, feeling as though it were an actual part of him, an extension of his body.

He and the sword were harmonizing, becoming in sync with one another. Shinji could see through the memories of its previous owner…and how, with every battle, every life-threatening scenario that he was involved in, either to save lives or enhance Tessaiga, he managed to barely survive and recover within the course of a few days later. Life had been, in many ways, cruel to the previous owner, but he found a place to settle down with people that accepted him, and he continued to use his sword for benevolent reasons, never for vengeance or wealth. And it was just what Shinji wanted to do with the swords, as well, to protect the people for the sake of protecting them from the Angels without the need for the Eva.

 _It's going to be a good day for the people,_ he thought, thrusting the sword into the ground, imagining that he was driving its blade into an enemy's heart, stopping them from hurting others.

-x-

Hiding from the technological methods used by the Lilim by keeping herself on the far side of the moon, Arael, the Angel of Birds, pondered on how to go about her strategy to face the threat and rescue Adam. All she knew from the defeat of Zeruel was that something other than the mockeries of Adam and the mockery of Lilith had defeated him, and this had been a power unlike any possible to obtain by mortal hands. She suspected that it was a power that focused on the physical aspect of the children of Adam, so she would be fortunate enough to handle the situation for not being in possession of a physical body, for hers was intangible, made of light energy, giving her an advantage over those bound by physicality.

-x-

"…Say, what's so special about those lousy swords you have there, Third?" Asuka asked Shinji, as they both returned to Misato's apartment at the same time.

Shinji sighed and responded, "They were an offering from a most-reprieved citizen."

"Whatever," she told him.

"Yeah," he retorted. "Whatever. With you, it's always whatever. Can't you ever just say something nice…and mean it?"

"Not to you, stupid."

"You're impossible to deal with, Asuka."

"And you're an embarrassment."

"I'm an embarrassment? How am I an embarrassment?"

"You quit NERV! Something goes wrong with the Fourth Child's Eva, it turns into an Angel, gets defeated, and you quit later on! You're weak, emotional, a complete disgrace to the Eva program. If it were up to you, you'd probably run us all into the ground and hand the world over to the Angels."

Shinji inhaled and responded, "Yeah, I'm emotional. Yeah, I quit NERV, but it was my choice to do so, just as it's how I am to be emotional, to care for the people that could get hurt because of the Evas. If being an Eva pilot means being a killer, or being subservient…or being prideful like you are, then I'm better off away from the Eva, away from something that promises nothing when and if the Angels are all defeated. If you want to continue believing in the program, that's your decision, Asuka. But I'm content with walking away from the program. I'm content with not devoting my life to the Eva. I've had an epiphany very recently, and I've realized that there's more to life than NERV and the Eva. There's more to life than wanting my father's acceptance, which he'll never give. At least then, I might have a good chance of living to be at least twenty. I want to experience more from life than that of violence, something you seem to embrace twenty-four/seven. The only way to do so is to rid oneself of any chains of violence is to walk away."

As he walked into the apartment, the developing swordsman heard chuckling from further down the hall. It sounded like Misato, but it also sounded like a man was with her.

Asuka brushed past him and into the living room, seeing the purple-haired woman making out with an unshaven man.

"Oh, please, you two," she groaned, turning away to her room. "Get a room."

Shinji came in (after putting away his swords) and saw the pair.

"I think I even want to know," he kindly expressed to them.

Turning to go back to his room, he failed to notice that Misato had a ring on her left hand. If he had stuck around to ask her about it, he would've found out that Kaji had proposed to her.

To be continued…

A/N: Sorry this took so long. I've had too many distractions.


	7. A New love

Creation began on 09-25-15

Creation ended on 10-31-15

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Sword of Destruction, Sword of Life: A New Love

It had been a week since Tokyo-3 had become more lively after Shinji used the Tenseiga to heal the people that were either injured or dying. And since then, Asuka found it difficult to find even an unnecessary reason to try and hassle the boy that spent most of his time away from the apartment with those two stooges of his. Another reason she had problems right now was because she found out that Kaji had proposed to Misato, who accepted his proposal; the redhead just viewed the two as crazy right now to be in the throes of planning their wedding day when they still needed to deal with the Angels. In her mind, everyone was being either dumb or outright pathetic to be ignoring the danger that still existed.

"Everyone's going bonkers all over the city," she expressed her opinion of the city's current state to Hikari one day at her place. "I think this all started shortly after that stupid Shinji resigned from NERV and the last Angel was defeated by an unknown source."

"So, just what are you saying, Asuka?" Hikari asked her.

"That this is all that baka's fault," Asuka complained, deciding to blame Shinji for what was going on around the city…and her lack of Angels to face. "Ever since he resigned, everything has been messed up."

"But resigning from NERV was his choice, Asuka," Hikari tried to express towards the redhead. "If he didn't want to pilot the Eva any longer, nobody should force him to continue. It's just wrong and immoral."

"Why are you defending that jerk?"

"I'm just stating the obvious that everyone can choose for themselves whether to continue with something that they've come to know…or quit right there and then. Asuka…are you envious of Shinji because he decided to walk away from what you dedicated your life to, because he wants more out of his life than what you choose to pine after?"

"What?! No! I'm not envious of that baka one bit! He thinks he's so better than I am that he gives up and walks away. I never walk away from a challenge. I'm better than he'll ever be."

-x-

"…Shinji, it looks like it's made entirely out of diamond shards," Kensuke told Shinji, examining the blade of the Tessaiga right now with Toji in the countryside where they had the convenience of privacy.

"And it's not heavy at all?" Toji questioned, concerned about the sword's weight.

"No," Shinji answered him, and Kensuke backed away from the sword as Shinji raised it over his head like it weighed next to nothing. "It must be this way for whoever owns it…and doesn't use it for personal gain."

"So both swords can't be used for personal gain, but they can be used to save people?" Toji found himself asking. "Soryu probably wouldn't be able to use either of them, even if she had them for herself."

Shinji responded with, "Asuka Langley Soryu is a young woman ruled by her pride and bloodlust. The previous masters of these swords demonstrated no such arrogance or made any contempt towards humanity as a whole heard or known. The original master of these two swords wasn't human, but he tolerated people, even up to his death. He didn't see them as expendable or pathetic, even took one woman as his bride, using Tessaiga to protect her from harm."

"But…how can you know of this, Shinji?" Toji asked him.

"Every now and then, I get these dreams that show me what what happened to the previous masters," he explained to his friends. "The original master had been a demonic dog of sorts, able to assume a humanoid appearance, was beyond those under him, in both physical strength and mental and spiritual strength. He ruled the western lands with a just reign, believing that ordinary people and benevolent demons could coexist harmoniously. Any malevolent demon that didn't agree with this ideal or tried to destroy people, the Great Dog Demon dealt with them. Prior to his demise, he had fathered two sons with two different women, one of whom was a lesser demon that couldn't understand why he would choose a human woman as his second bride."

"So, his first wife was a demon like himself, and he left her for a human wife?" Kensuke asked.

"Not everyone parts ways on the best of terms, but, yes, he did leave her for a human wife."

"That almost seems sinister."

"Maybe, but the original owner lived differently from other demons that were around at that time. He wasn't cruel, even if the eldest of his two sons had initially suspected him of being so."

-x-

"…I still can't believe he proposed to you," went Ritsuko to Misato, unable to comprehend how her friend from college could be engaged to their unshaven friend.

"I couldn't believe it myself at first," the purple-haired woman responded. "But we do go together nicely. Or as nicely as any two people go together."

In front of the two women and the staff working on Unit-00's synchronization test at the moment, the monitors displayed Rei as she sat in the Entry Plug.

This was another, additional test for the Dummy System, as the initial use of said system was met with errors, requiring further tests to be performed.

"Say, has any attempt been made to have Shinji return to pilot Unit-01?" Ritsuko asked her.

"I've made no such suggestion to him," Misato responded. "He was adamant on never piloting again. I can't fault him for it."

"So one classmate of his gets placed in danger, forcing him to choose between the Fourth Child and all of mankind, and he chooses the Fourth Child over the human race?"

"He's not like Asuka or Rei. He hasn't been involved with NERV for a long time, and he sees situations from a perspective different from the perspective of a paramilitary agency."

Inside the plug, Rei sat and thought of nothing but synchronizing with the Eva. But then, she thought of Shinji, who severed his ties with the agency after what Commander Ikari did in the previous Angel attack that involved Unit-03. While there had been a small thought that he might've returned in the last attack, it had been met with doubt and the unfortunate revelation that Shinji wouldn't return to pilot the Eva again.

 _Commander Ikari believed he would return,_ she thought, _but he didn't return…and the Angel was defeated by something else that wasn't an Eva._

"Okay, Rei," she heard Dr. Akagi say over the intercom. "We're done for today."

-x-

"…Okay, Shinji, I think we've practiced enough for today," went Toji to the young swordsman in the making. "I think that form of Tessaiga is the best one to be used against the Angels if it flings shards at you."

Transforming the Diamond Tessaiga back into its katana form, Shinji re-sheathed the sword and expressed towards Kensuke, "I don't know how you talked me into practicing with music."

"Uh, it's also," Kensuke told them. "It also helps to use music as a means to envision a legion of adversaries from all sides trying to attack you in order to do a training form perfectly."

"That song, _Before my body is dry_ , is somewhat an unusual song to listen to while training with the sword."

"Any song is usual when listening to it while training."

Shinji sighed and placed the swords on his back. He hoped the next Angel came soon and he could stand between NERV and the casualties they could cause. This was mainly because he knew Asuka could be destructive; if he could keep the Angel away from her, then her brutality would be reduced. Not to mention that nobody would have to die, and that wasn't a bad desire, to not want anyone to die.

Suddenly, he got a bad feeling in the back of his head, like something awful was going to happen soon. Real soon.

-x-

The Angel of Birds made herself known to the enemy, letting them know she was there. It was time to cast her judgment upon them for the cruelty they had inflicted upon her siblings and father. In addition, unlike her explosive brother, Sahaquiel, Arael had no intention of edging any closer to the blue planet than necessary; this was essential in order to protect herself from potential harm.

-x-

"…So, it's just outside of the range of our weapons," Ritsuko informed Misato as Asuka and Rei were in the Evas. "It's been there since it appeared, and hasn't moved an inch closer."

"So, is it waiting to get closer or is it going to attack from space?" Misato wondered.

With the loss of the Third Child and the resigning of the Fourth Child after the Unit-03 incident, Rei was designated as the pilot of Unit-01, though that made no difference to the situation they were currently in.

Asuka, on the other hand, was wondering if what had attacked the previous Angel would show up and attack this Angel. She wanted to show that Shinji was unnecessary to NERV now, that it was a waste of time of even considering trying to bring him back. Ever since before they met, she knew she was better than he had been, that she was superior to him in every way possible. To even think of her as being second to him was an insult to her pride.

"Okay, Asuka," went Misato over the intercom, "You'll be the primary gunner in this operation. Rei will be the backup gunner."

"Got it," the redhead responded. "Launching Unit-02."

-x-

Standing on a building rooftop several feet away from where he saw Unit-02 and Unit-01 arise from underneath the streets, Shinji had taken his own precautions against this new Angel he lacked any information on. While the Tessaiga was his primary sword to train with, it was always necessary to have Tenseiga with him in case people got hurt.

"Judging from whichever way they turn to, I should be able to handle the Angel," he told himself, gripping the Tessaiga in his left hand. "They point, I handle before it gets bad."

He watched as Unit-02, armed with a Positron Rifle, was aiming the weapon up into the sky on his left. But once he got his lead on where the Angel was, he, along with Unit-02 and much of where they were in the city, was bathed in an intense light.

"Aaaahh!" He gasped, feeling like something was trying to force its way into his head. "Aaaaahh! No!"

He dropped the Tessaiga and grabbed a hold of his head.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAUURGH!" He yelled in intense pain, seeing things from his past that were just too painful for him to take.

He saw his mother during the last time he ever saw her…and saw her vanish in an incomplete version of an Evangelion. And then the day his father abandoned him, followed by being falsely accused of stealing a bike when he found it and believed it was abandoned. There was even the memory of his aunt expressing her dislike of him because she believed he was too much like his parents when he recalled absolutely nothing about them to make up any comparison.

 _I am not my parents,_ he thought, falling to his right side on the rooftop. _I am not my parents! I'm not them! They walked out on me! They devoted themselves to the Eva, not me! I'm me! I'm me!_

Pulse! He heard the sound of a heartbeat, and opened his eyes to see that the Tenseiga had fallen off him onto the ground…and it was resonating in a manner similar to a heartbeat.

-x-

Asuka was in immense pain! Her past laid out in front of her by the Angel. She couldn't escape what had happened in her childhood. The day her mother tried to strangle her, the constant reminders of her needing to be better than some man's daughter, the being ignored by her in favor of a stuffed doll…and the suicide.

"Please, stop!" She cried out, unable to hit the Angel that stayed protected by staying distant from the planet. "Stop!"

Just when Gendo was about to order Rei to go down to Terminal Dogma and retrieve the Spear of Longinus, something happened.

The beam of light the Angel used on Unit-02 was suddenly cut off by a literal cut from somewhere within the city itself.

"What was that?" Ritsuko asked.

On the holographic monitors, being located atop a skyscraper, they all saw the former Third Child, wielding a sword with a glowing blade, panting…before swinging it again, sending a massive wave of light into the sky.

-x-

Something was wrong! Arael's soul-piercing light was stopped by something not of the Lilim race, and saw a wave of light approaching it. It was different from hers and had a different feeling to its purpose that wasn't to pierce any soul.

SLASH! It had cut her in half, and she felt herself fading away, as though the light that made her form and the one that assaulted her had canceled each other out.

 _It's not possible,_ were her final thoughts before she disappeared from the vastness of space.

-x-

"No way," went Misato, unsure of how to go about this phenomenon that everyone in Central Dogma just witnessed.

"He defeated the Angel," went Maya, "with a sword?"

Gendo, however, was unimpressed by what he had just seen. There was no way that this was possible, that this went beyond everything that was supposed to transpire. And yet, he couldn't deny what he saw, to claim it as nothing more than an insane dream. And his curiosity, which he was believed to lack in its entirety, was sparked by this.

"Retrieve the Evas," he ordered the personnel, "then bring in the Third Child for questioning."

-x-

Laying on his back, Shinji, realizing now that the Tenseiga could be used to defeat the Angels that his Tessaiga most likely couldn't because of their opposite natures, as he caught his breath, suspected that the defeated Angel was vastly different from the previous one. The Tessaiga had defeated the Tenth Angel with two swings, and was incapable of harming this Angel. But Tenseiga, for a different reason, was able to achieve such a feat.

 _It must've been like those creatures the previous owners used it against to recall people from the afterlife,_ he thought. _They couldn't be seen by the living, but could be harmed by the sword because it connects to the afterlife to restore life to the dead. Tenseiga can't be used to harm the living, but can harm the intangible. Stay focused, Shinji. You used Tenseiga to protect the people from the Angel, not for any personal gain. Keeping them safe is what matters most._

-x-

Inside the plug, Asuka, feeling relieved of tension, sat back in the chair and recalled something that was unusual in the pain she felt at the end. It was like someone she knew from long ago had finally come back and held her hand. She couldn't describe it in any other way. And there was something else she couldn't explain, either: Before the light the Angel bathed her with ceased, she could've sworn she saw someone on a nearby skyscraper swinging a sword.

-x-

Once he was rested, Shinji fled from the building and returned to Misato's to pack up his backpack; what he had neglected to take into account on NERV's grip on the city was that they could've had eyes and ears allover the place, including what wasn't actual eyes and ears. If they saw the Angel attacking Unit-02 with that light, then it's possible that they saw him counterattack the Angel with Tenseiga…and they would ask him how he did what he did that shouldn't have been possible. And then there was his father, who could've wanted the swords for himself and would have absolutely no intention of using them for the sake of protecting the people and not for personal gain.

 _Maybe it's a selfish thought, but it's better that NERV doesn't get possession of these swords,_ he thought, quickly putting on his coat and backpack and heading towards the front door. _If I couldn't do what I can do with them, they'd probably put me back in the Entry Plug…back in the Eva…and it's the worse of the powers that can't be used to actually protect anyone._

By the time he had gotten three blocks away from the building, a black Sedan had shown up and three men in black suits had gotten out.

-x-

Misato was frustrated at being instructed not to try and convince Shinji by herself to return to NERV after being informed that Section Two was unable to find the boy at her place. She was certain she could've found him if she went out to find him, but Commander Ikari was adamant that other methods be used to locate the boy and bring him for questioning. Whatever means Shinji might've obtained to face the Angels, she figured he had his reasons to not tell her or NERV.

 _Still, a sword? That's so ancient and primitive to modern-day weapons,_ she thought, sitting in a chair in Central Dogma drinking a mug of coffee. _And Shinji doesn't know how to use swords. I mean, he never mentioned anything about knowing how to use swords._

"You're sure you didn't know about this, Major Katsuragi?" Maya asked her.

"If I knew, I wouldn't know how to explain any of this," she answered her. "It's surprising that he had a sword that could harm an Angel."

"Do you think this was part of the reason he resigned from NERV?"

"Maybe."

"How's Asuka doing?"

"With some bedrest, she'll be alright…but I don't know how this will affect her later on."

"Looking for Shinji…or piloting Unit-02?"

Misato didn't answer her.

-x-

In the trauma ward of NERV, Asuka, despite her protests of being fine, lied in the hospital bed because Misato ordered her to. She was upset about the Angel having been defeated by someone that looked like (and who NERV assumed was) Shinji, wielding a sword. It was unlikely that he was capable of using a sword to defeat the Angel, as swords were incapable of penetrating AT-Fields, and the swords he had looked like meaningless antiques. Still, it would have explained why he had a pair of them that he kept with him much of the time.

 _He's always trying to upstage me,_ she thought. _Why did he give up the Eva for a sword? Swords aren't even useful for an Eva to use._

Yet, she couldn't help but applaud his use of a sword against the Angel, like a lowly knight rising up to slay a dragon of light that had gone bad. She had to give him credit for such a primitive weapon and some luck.

-x-

Boarding the train and finding a seat in the back of the car where he could be by himself, Shinji sighed and tried to make sense of what to do the moment he got to the next town. He hoped there would be a low-rate motel somewhere that he could hide at for at least a day. Then, he could figure out how to keep Tessaiga and Tenseiga safe from NERV, and resolve to deal with the remaining Angels and keep the people safe.

The train started moving, and its passengers were heading towards God-knows-where on the tracks in the evening hours.

-x-

"…Still no sign of the Third Child, sir," went one of the agents of Section Two to Gendo in his office. "We've searched all the usual places he's been seen to frequent, and we've got no trace of him."

"Expand the search to beyond the city," Gendo ordered the man. "Check for places he doesn't frequent. Libraries, video stores, fast food restaurants. He can't hide forever."

To be continued…

A/N: Here's the chapter that will be for Halloween.


	8. Threat

Creation began on 10-31-15

Creation ended on 12-21-15

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Sword of Destruction, Sword of Life: Threat

He was fortunate enough to find a motel that didn't require so much as an identification card or a name. So long as he paid up front, Shinji was able to hide out for a few days in the remnants of Tokyo-2, reduced to a meager town that not even much of the Japanese government would touch.

" _What's the antique swords for, kid?"_ The guy in charge of the motel had asked him once as he went to his room.

" _You ever danced with the Devil on a bloody battlefield and live to tell about it?"_ Shinji found the spine to ask him back. _"I consider myself lucky to have lived and have these two swords as proof of my efforts. I fought the Devil, and he's not as tough as you would believe him to be."_

As he slept in the solitude of his room, the young swordsman-in-training dreamed of the two swords' former masters and their battles. The guy in red had used the Tessaiga in its form that looked like someone had managed to take some of the night or the cosmos and shaped it into a blade and used it on a creature that appeared to be made of many dozens of other creatures in the shape of a giant spider. And the other guy that wielded the Tenseiga used another sword that had been made from the head of a strange creature to face another large creature…and it shattered in half; this left Shinji to suspect that their father's swords were of a much greater status in that they weren't capable of being shattered, no matter how much damage they took. What intrigued him the most right now was that the two swordsmen had also been made to work together against a former man that was using a sword that contained an ancient creature that could open a gateway to the underworld itself and possessed similar abilities to the Tessaiga and Tenseiga.

Waking up to the new day, he was drenched in sweat and panting from shock. It was as though what had happened to the two brothers in his dream had actually happened to him.

-x-

"…If he left, then he must've had a reason to run," Toji told Kensuke during class.

"I just wished he had told us that he was going," Kensuke responded. "You think it has something to do with the last Angel? Or his father?"

"My lunch money's on the latter. No way this absence would have anything to do with an Angel."

They had discovered that Shinji had gone missing after the last Angel attack the day before, and both had suspected that the reason he had left included the protection of the Tessaiga and Tenseiga from NERV. After being confided in by Shinji, they took the secret seriously and didn't divulge on the matter with anyone else. Unfortunately, they were hoping that NERV didn't think to ask anyone that knew Shinji if they knew where he went.

-x-

"Exactly, what are we going to ask him if we even find him?" Misato asked Ritsuko.

"Questions should include where he got the sword, how he got the sword, and who gave it to him, if someone even gave it to him," the faux-blond explained.

"You honestly think he'll even tell us if we continue to treat him like he has no right to keep secrets of his own?"

"Secrets like this could have a cost to our agency."

"Except he did defeat the Angel on his own, so I wouldn't call that a cost at all."

Walking down the hall outside Central Dogma, the two women bickered back and forth about the importance of finding Shinji and discovering the secret of this sword he had used against the Angel. While Misato suggested that they shouldn't press the matter and back Shinji into a corner where he felt he didn't need to tell them anything, Ritsuko insisted that it was a necessity in order to make sure there were no other obstacles between NERV and the Angels, even if one such, potential obstacle was the very boy that used to pilot one of their Evas against the Angels prior to the Unit-03 incident.

Meanwhile, in his office, Gendo was being questioned by Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki on the reason why he wanted his son questioned over a mere sword.

"If he could use a sword like that to defeat an Angel, then he must know where other such weapons can be obtained," Gendo told him.

"Or maybe, just maybe, you want the sword for yourself, Ikari," Fuyutsuki suggested.

Gendo didn't respond to that suggestion, but couldn't deny that he wanted the sword Shinji had. If it gave the boy a sense of freedom from the Eva, he wanted to remove that freedom and redirect the boy back to piloting the Eva. He hated to admit it, but he needed his son close by…and broken.

-x-

" _'Tenseiga'_?" Shinji read on his left wrist, seeing that it was tattooed with the Sword of Life's name on his skin. "What in the name of…"

 _The swords have merged with you,_ a voice uttered in his head. _They are now a part of you. They can't be taken from you._

He looked at his right wrist and saw _'Tessaiga'_ tattooed on it, meaning the Sword of Destruction had been put in that arm, just as the Sword of Life had been infused with his left arm. Along with the tattooed names, there were the detailed pictures of the swords, though the Tessaiga was shown in all five forms, from the decrepit sword that housed the power to the sword with the black blade. Sighing, he covered his hands with a pair of finger-less gloves and long, wrist coverings so as to not draw too much attention to himself as he prepared to step out and move further away from Tokyo-3.

Knock, knock, knock! A knocking came at the door, and Shinji quickly gathered his bag.

"Yes?" He spoke up.

"You have some visitors that say they're from Tokyo-3," the motel manager expressed.

"I'm not here," he told him.

"Come again?"

"I'm not here!"

Suddenly, the door opened, but not all the way due to the chain on the door; Shinji was fortunate for that to keep whoever he didn't want coming in. The sight of one of them in black suits and glasses caught his gaze, and Shinji immediately ran to the window.

"Cease and desist, Third Child!" The man shouted at him, but Shinji climbed out onto the fire escape and closed the window before the guy broke the door open.

Shinji ran up the fire escape to the roof. Looking back, he saw the agent accompanied by another, and ran across the roof to another roof.

-x-

"He's in Tokyo-2?" Misato asked Ritsuko, who discovered this fact an hour ago.

"Section Two found him shacked up in a motel and attempted to apprehend him before he could skip." Ritsuko explained.

"I'm sorry. Attempted to apprehend him?"

"He's in the wind right now. They lost him in a crowd of people."

"He knows his father's trying to find him and won't make it easy for him."

"Misato, you know as well as I do that it's important that we find him and question him about the sword. We have no choice."

"There's always a choice. We can choose not to question him about the sword."

-x-

Hiding in an abandoned building that had been partly demolished from the N² mine against the Third Angel, Shinji decided to wait until dark to make any attempt to leave the ruins of town. However, if another Angel decided to show up, he would handle the matter before people got hurt.

"I wonder if I can use Tessaiga to build a small fire," he told himself, crouched in a small corner in the back of the building, waiting for the sun to go down.

-x-

Back in the Entry Plug again, Asuka was being tested for synchronization ratio with Unit-02. So far, everything was stable and clear of any signs of instability within the plug.

Outside the plug, however, Ritsuko and Misato saw that Asuka's synchronization ratio was higher than it had been prior to the last Angel attack, before it was revealed that Shinji was the cause of the defeat of the last two Angels. It was almost at one-hundred percent.

"Asuka, are you feeling alright in there?" Misato asked her over the intercom.

"I'm fine," she responded.

"Your sync ratio's a little higher than normal."

"How high?"

"Almost one-hundred percent."

"Are you joking?"

"I wish."

Within the other Entry Plug assigned to the First Child, Rei's synchronization ratio was the same as it had always been…until it dropped by eight percent.

"Rei, your score just dropped eight percent," Ritsuko informed the First Child.

While the pilots were being tested, the core of Unit-02 was being examined, just to ensure that there weren't any abnormalities associated with the Fifteenth Angel's defeat. So far, all they could find wrong with the core was that it was no longer red. It was now white with a golden glow.

"Someone get Dr. Akagi down here!" A man shouted.

-x-

As day became night, Shinji was out on the street, heading further south to get away from Tokyo-3 and NERV. He found a bus that was heading away from Tokyo-2 to Niigata and boarded it.

"What's your reason?" The driver asked him. "Business or pleasure?"

"Um, survival," Shinji told her as he sat in the back.

"I've heard worse."

When the bus started moving, he was hoping to get as far from here as possible. The faster he got away, the better off he'd be. He wasn't sure how he was going to survive out there, but he would be sure to find a way.

-x-

"…And you suspect that the Third Child is responsible for the destruction of at least two Angels without the use of an Eva, Ikari?" SEELE 06 asked during the next meeting, as it came to the council's attention that NERV was operating poorly against the children of Adam.

"We won't know for sure until he's brought back and questioned," Gendo explained.

"We should consider the Third Child to be more than capable of dealing with the remaining Angels if he can do so without the Eva," went SEELE 02 to the rest of the council. "If this sword he has is capable of defeating two of the Angels, he could become an invaluable ally if bargained with."

That made Gendo worry over the scenario. He wanted Shinji handled forcefully, not allowed to run wild and outside of his control.

"A sword is a primitive weapon that has no place in NERV," Gendo responded to the council member's suggestion. "It is the Eva that will suffice against the Angels."

"Which hasn't done so in the last two incidents, Ikari," SEELE 01 uttered to them. "Should the Third Child be found and questioned, we should see for ourselves what he is capable of with the sword he used against the Angels. If this sword has existed far longer than the Angels have been around to wipe out mankind and the Third Child had only acquired it recently, then it's likely that someone else had it before he came into possession of it…and he may know of who."

"And if he knows who, then maybe the sword isn't unique," added SEELE 07.

-x-

"…Asuka?" Misato spoke, finding the Second Child in Shinji's room. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing," Asuka responded, sitting on Shinji's bed, holding onto his pillow. "Why do you think he didn't tell anyone about those swords of his?"

"Swords? He had another one?"

"Yeah, two of them. You didn't notice?"

"No."

"He has two swords, said he got them off the street from somebody. He didn't elaborate on who and why, but he kept them close."

"Maybe he told his friends about them. He would've felt the need to confide in someone he trusted."

"And if he didn't?"

"Then NERV is back to square one, needing to find him and get the truth from him. Though, honestly, it's probably better if we don't find him. I'd probably ask him to be the ring bearer, though."

Asuka was then reminded that Misato had been proposed to by Kaji. The two had planned to get married as soon as the remaining Angels were defeated. It just made her wish she had someone.

"His father thinks he's a threat, doesn't he?" She asked Misato.

"Maybe," she responded. "How he can be considered a threat is uncertain. If he wanted to hurt people with his swords, he would've done so."

"He never seems the type to want anything relating to world domination or some sort of sadism."

-x-

Screech! Shinji heard the bus stopping as he awoke in his seat.

"Okay, people, this is a search and apprehension," he heard a male voice in front of the bus. "We're looking for a fourteen-year-old boy."

He looked up ahead and saw one of the men in black suits, accompanied by a police officer.

 _Oh, no,_ he thought, uncertain of how he was going to get out of this situation.

As they looked at everyone they came across, the boy tried to look inconspicuous as he kept his face turned to the window.

"Excuse me, sir?" He heard the man in black asked him, showing him a picture of himself. "Have you seen this young man recently?"

He turned to face the agent and uttered, "No, sir?"

"As you were," the man said and he walked away.

This had Shinji feeling confused. He stood out in the picture, so anyone could see who he was. How could the guy just look at him…and not see that it was him? He hadn't even tried to change his appearance in any way besides covering his arms to conceal his swords.

"Sorry, people," the police expressed to the bus passengers. "Enjoy the rest of your trip."

Shinji sighed as the bus started moving again. Whatever deity had made it possible for NERV's dogs to look for him and miss him, he was grateful.

-x-

Gendo had looked over the translated versions of the Dead Sea Scrolls that were never made public, trying to see if there was anything about any swords being used against the Angels…and found nothing of such that had been translated. All he found were the situations in which an Eva went up against an Angel and, one way or another, defeated the Angel. He found where it said that Unit-02 was supposed to suffer at the methods of the Angel of Birds and that was when he was supposed to have Rei dispose of the Spear of Longinus, but then the Third Child came and messed things up. Even the translations on where the Fourth Child was supposed to be disposed of to break his son were there, but even that hadn't occurred. The Angel of Might was supposed to have been devoured by Unit-01 for its S² Engine and made completely independent of the Umbilical Cable and more useful to his scenario, and even that didn't happen.

 _Damn you, Third Child,_ he thought, really wanting to blame his son for messing with his plans as nothing he had read happened at all. _You've ruined everything I've worked so hard to achieve! I'm supposed to have everything! You're supposed to have nothing!_

On his desk was a photograph of his son wielding the sword he had used against the Angel of Birds, making him curious as to where and how he learned to use a sword when he had never even learned to use a knife before until after he was forced into the Eva against the Fourth Angel. If he ever found the boy, he would make sure to have this sword disposed of. Crushed, melted, whatever methods were used to dispose of a piece of steel. He didn't want anyone or anything beneath of the Eva to have any sort of degree of power or freedom affordable to the Third Child. He was a threat and he needed to be put back into his place.

To be continued…

A/N: Here's the next chapter until later next year.


	9. Embrace

Creation began on 12-22-15

Creation ended on 12-16-16

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Sword of Destruction, Sword of Life: Embrace

A/N: One of the chapters for a new year.

When the bus stopped at a gas station, Shinji went to the bathroom…and saw in his reflection why the people looking for him couldn't find him.

"Whoa," he gasped, seeing both of his swords' previous owners behind him in the mirror…but not behind him in the room; they were just in his mind.

When they stopped the bus and questioned him, they must've saw one of the previous owners, probably dressed similar to fit into the modern era, and that was how he was able to get away.

 _Do you have someone to protect?_ The white-haired, half-demon man in red asked Shinji.

"I do have someone to protect. More than just someone," he responded.

 _Then why are you fleeing?_ The white-haired demon man in armor asked.

"Because my father may try to take the swords from me. Then, I wouldn't be able to help anyone the way I have."

 _Your brain must be broken,_ the half-demon uttered. _Our father entrusted our swords to you. They've become part of you, so nobody can take them, even if they tried._

"What's to stop him from trying?"

 _Your fear of him,_ the demon explained. _Your fear empowers him. Your hesitation makes you falter._

Shinji lowered his gaze to the sink.

 _You need to go back to that place,_ the half-demon told him. _The people you desire to protect are in danger and need your help._

-x-

"…So, you understand why we're asking you these questions, right?" Misato asked Toji the next day at school.

"Yes, ma'am," he answered her, sitting in front of her and three of Section Two's agents.

"Did Shinji ever say anything to you about any swords or antique objects he acquired recently?"

-x-

"…No, ma'am," went Kensuke to Misato in their meeting. "He never told me anything about anything. I asked him a lot about the Eva, but he shot me down on that."

"You're sure about this? You never saw him with any swords or large knives?" Misato asked him.

-x-

"…I'm sure, Ms. Katsuragi," Toji continued to lie to her. "If I had seen him with anything of that sort, I'd want to know more about it. You don't see anything like that, anymore…except in movies and cartoons or comic books."

"Any idea on where he might go if he wanted to…get away from his father?" Misato asked him.

-x-

"…No, Shinji never spoke of wanting to go anywhere beyond this place," Kensuke explained. "I know he said he had an aunt and uncle someplace, but they didn't really want him. He told me that much. He wouldn't go back to them. He knew where he wasn't wanted or loved."

Misato couldn't deny that bit of information there. Ever since Shinji was brought to Tokyo-3, he didn't get so much as a phone call from his aunt or uncle. No mail, no messages, no invites to events, no nothing. It was like he didn't have any family that wanted anything remotely moral to do with him.

"Thank you for your time," she told him.

-x-

"…You're welcome," said Toji to her. "I just hope that he's doing okay, wherever he is."

-x-

"…You think they were lying to you?" Ritsuko asked Misato as the latter woman sat down in a chair in Central Dogma.

"They might've been lying," she responded, "but if they were, the question is why?"

"If he confided in them, they likely swore to keep his confidence in them. He trusts them…or he needed someone he could trust to confide in to keep from going crazy."

"But it would seem that they don't know where he went, just that he wouldn't go back to his aunt and uncle's. They're not exactly on his list of good people to turn to."

"Any chance he might try to contact them?"

"I don't think so. If he knew he was being watched or followed, then he'd know that his calls were being monitored. If he tries to call either of them, he would know we were onto him."

-x-

 _This is unbearably incredible,_ Shinji thought as he ran across the land back to Tokyo-3, the Tessaiga and its scabbard strapped to his waist.

After deciding to forgo the bus driving away from Tokyo-3 and learning that no buses or trains were heading back to it, he elected to run, only to discover how the Tessaiga manifested and enabled him to move faster than he ever thought possible for a young person of his age to move. And more was that he jumped higher, as well.

 _It would seem that having these swords enables me to tap into a fraction of the powers the previous owners possessed in their time._

He jumped up as high as he could and saw the incredible scenery between where he was right now and what remained of Tokyo-3. He must've jumped at least one-hundred feet or so into the air. And it was such a sight, like he was able to soar in an illusion of jumping so high.

"I've never felt a rush like this before," he told himself, now falling back to the Earth.

-x-

"…Hey, we just got a hit on the Third Child's whereabouts!" A Section Two agent informed Misato in Central Dogma.

"Where?" She questioned.

"He's at your apartment."

-x-

He still had access to it, but he made sure to tape a note to the door that informed whoever was watching the place from the outside that he wouldn't be leaving the unit until after he spoke with Misato. That was his choice. His father could either accept that or bitch about it.

"Yarp," he heard the warm-water penguin in the living room, looking up at him.

"Hey, Pen-Pen," he greeted him.

"Yarp," the penguin responded back.

He went to his room and threw his backpack down.

-x-

"…Unfortunately, he won't leave Major Katsuragi's unit until after he speaks with her," a different Section Two agent informed Gendo.

"Detain him and bring him here, if you have to," Gendo insisted.

"None of the agents are willing to attempt going near him while he has a sword capable of destroying Angels. And if what was recently found out to be true, they don't want to get near him if he has two."

Fuyutsuki then uttered, "Are you sure he said this, specifically? He would come here after he spoke with Major Katsuragi?"

"He wrote it down and stuck it to the door, sir."

-x-

Even though he hadn't been gone for more than a day, Shinji found the apartment a week's worth of filthy, and was cleaning it. It seemed impossible for Asuka or Misato to keep the place clean for even two days with their habits; he had never known anyone beyond his cousin that would make a huge mess of things and barely cleaned up after themselves. It was bothersome as it was irritable.

Suddenly, the sound of the front door opening was heard and he put the broom, which he was sweeping the floor with, against the wall in the kitchen.

"Shinji?" He heard Misato's voice.

"In the kitchen," he responded, taking out a can of sardines for Pen-Pen, who was looking down at his empty bowl.

Misato stepped into the room and saw him serving the penguin. It hadn't even been three days, but he seemed different (and all she could assume was that it had something to do with being chased over some swords he has acquired from someone or someplace).

"You're back," she expressed, somewhat relieved.

"Yeah," he responded again, leaning back against the countertop behind him. "We both know what that man wants from me, but I will tell you that he can't have what I was given, no matter how much he feels that he's entitled to. Nobody can."

"You used a sword to take down an Angel. That's unheard of."

"Two swords of ancient origins. Two Angels of different possibilities. I mitigated the potential harm they opposed the people without any desire for a reward or praise. And just so that you know, the sword I used against the last Angel was the same sword used to make the people in the city livelier. Haven't you noticed how much relief they have felt in the last few days or how their suffering seemed to stop overnight?"

"Just…how?"

Shinji sighed and removed his wrist coverings. His left hand glowed and the Tenseiga materialized in its grip in front of the purple-haired woman, startling her.

"This is the Tenseiga, the Sword of Life," he told her. "Forged from the fang of a great beast to have the power of life, able to heal and revive the injured and dead so long as its owner has kindness of heart. With this, I was able to save Toji's life from the destruction of Unit-03 and heal the people in the city just days ago."

Misato then suspected that it was also the reason her fiancé was still around to show his face.

Then, Shinji held out his right hand and made the Tessaiga manifest in his grip as the Tenseiga disappeared from sight.

"This is the Tessaiga, the Sword of Destruction," he revealed, "forged from another fang belonging to the same, great beast to serve as a guardian of mortals, able to bring ruination to one's enemies with just one swing or so in order to protect those that one longs to keep safe from harm. Life and Destruction, Heaven and Earth, renewal…and existence, Misato."

This wasn't the same boy that Misato met that day the Third Angel attacked, anymore. He was vastly different from the emotionally-damaged child that his father wouldn't treat with kindness at all, almost devoid of all hopes of reconciliation with his past and just someone that was trying to reshape his present and future with no ties to the ones that hurt him. And someone driven to reject the Eva at all costs and any given opportunity to make a difference between the end of the world and the right to survive without the threat of annihilation. This was a young man…that embraced the power of alternatives that were being offered to him without the consequences of any repercussions.

 _He has power different from the Angels,_ she thought. _Different from the Evas, which are just copies of the First Angel from the Antarctic. He could restore life to the countless lives lost to Second Impact if he could, defeat the rest of the Angels if he could. He'd…probably be viewed as a god among people._

As the Tessaiga disappeared, Shinji asked her, "So…what happens now? I won't relinquish my swords to NERV…and they can't be taken from me. I won't pilot the Eva again…and I can't be ordered to go against my conscience of morality. What do you do? What do you do?"

-x-

"…Understood," went Fuyutsuki on the phone as he hung up in front of Gendo. "Major Katsuragi is returning to base with the Third Child."

"Good," Gendo responded.

"Except she informed me that he informed her of what the sword he possessed was capable of…and insists that it is not worth our time trying to obtain."

"Irrelevant."

"Kindness of heart, Ikari."

"What?"

"That's what your son told her. Only a kind heart could use the sword, someone that cares for people unconditionally, without favoring or expecting some kind of reward in return. Unless NERV has people of that sort here, your son is the only one that can wield such a weapon."

"Then we'll take it from him."

"Do you even believe that you can?"

Gendo was clearly the type of man that embraced control over everything and everyone. If you refused him, he would find a way to make you bend to his will. But his son was breaking from his control…and needed to be put in check, one way or another if he was to ensure his scenario.

-x-

"Maybe the people should vacate the city as a precaution," suggested Shinji to Misato as the drive through the city was dull.

"You fear for them?" She asked him.

"It's not a commonly-used question, but what would you do with a second chance at life? What would you do if you lived a life where you made mistakes, died, and then find yourself alive once again? Would you take the opportunity to try and correct your mistakes…or do you run for your life and the lives of your loved ones to get away from the danger of where you are?"

Misato found herself unsure of how to answer the question, but was certain that if she had died and was then brought back to life, she probably would have ran for her restored life. But she deduced that Kaji would likely want to get away from Tokyo-3 as soon as they got married.

"People that obtain a renewal to life will want to enjoy and embrace it to its end," Shinji sighed. "Do you embrace life?"

"Do you?" She asked him back.

"Not before…but I do now. I'd rather embrace life than just exist."

To be continued…

A/N: My apologies to anyone that reads this story. Other ideas get in the way that expand, delaying the progress of other stories, and that's why it took so long. I'm hoping that the next chapter will have Gendo fall more from his rotten throne and Shinji gets further recognition, even though it's not what he desires, and maybe Asuka comes to accept him as someone who wants to be seen as a person and not competition.


	10. Fathers and Sons

Creation began on 12-16-16

Creation ended on 11-14-17

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Sword of Destruction, Sword of Life: Fathers and Sons

Gendo couldn't understand why, but the Third Child seemed different than the last time he saw him in his office. It was like he had more confidence or a strength that was independent of the Eva, something he needed to get rid of if he wanted to get the scenario he worked hard for back on track.

Shinji saw his father as a depraved ant in a way, the way he was just sitting there behind the desk. Or just an ant that felt it needed to be protected from every boot that stepped on weak insects that were in the way. And what seemed so odd about it before was that the boy didn't see his father as an ant before…but a disgraceful, wretched man that was undeserving of the status of a father.

"So," Shinji spoke to him, deciding to get to where they were in this situation that his father wanted to take control of, "what do you want from me?"

"You have a sword in your possession," Gendo uttered, his usual self. "You will hand it over to NERV, immediately."

"I can't do that."

"Can't…or won't?"

"I won't hand over what you can't even use, anyway. You don't have any kindness in your heart to use it. Unless you care for others without expecting something in return for helping them, you wouldn't be able to unleash its true potential…or that of its sibling sword."

"Sibling sword?" Fuyutsuki went, also present in the office. "You have two swords?"

"I do. I have used both to great effects. I have been granted a semblance of power from embodiments of Heaven and Earth, to return life to those still on Earth…and protect those that can be protected…without expecting any type of personal reward in return. No desire for praise, no longing for acknowledgment, no delusions of grandeur or godhood, whatsoever."

"This is irrelevant," said Gendo to them. "You will relinquish your swords, immediately."

"And I've already told you I won't do that. The swords were gifts to me…and I value them greatly. They're mine, and I won't hand them over just because you order me to."

"Then you will be incarcerated in the brig."

"Really? You wanna try and wield one of them? Go right ahead."

Shinji raised his right hand and the Tessaiga appeared in his grip. He unsheathed it and transformed the blade into his true form before wedging it into the floor in front of himself and Gendo's desk.

"Go ahead, both of you," Shinji dared them. "Unless you have kindness of heart and a desire to protect people without desiring anything in return for doing so, you can't hold or lift the sword, let alone use its powers."

Gendo didn't budge from his desk, but Fuyutsuki surrendered to temptation and walked around the desk to the wedged sword. He grabbed the hilt and pulled with all his might. It felt like he was trying to rip out a pole stuck in solid concrete; the sword refused to budge an inch for him.

"I can't pull it out," he gave up; he didn't have enough kindness in him to be able to use it.

"Wow, and this sword represents Earth, a guardian of mortals," Shinji expressed; he wasn't disappointed that the sub-commander was unable to lift the sword, but disappointed that he, while seemingly kind, lacked the motivation to want to protect people. "Would you care to try with the Sword of Life instead?"

His left hand unleashed Tenseiga and he unsheathed its blade in front of them. And then…he slashed Fuyutsuki with it.

"Ahh!" He gasped, backing away as light emanated from where he was attacked. "Shinji, why?!"

It felt like his demise took its course with him.

"Mister Fuyutsuki?" Shinji spoke. "You're not dead. You're unharmed."

Fuyutsuki looked down at where he was struck…and saw no injury, no cut, no blood. He was completely unscathed.

Even Gendo was surprised by this.

"You see?" Shinji asked them. "One sword to defeat the strong…and another sword to save the weak. Earth and Heaven. Destruction and Life."

He resheathed Tenseiga and the sword disappeared. And then, he grabbed Tessaiga and pulled it out of the ground like it weighed nothing, turning its blade back to its normal form and resheathing it, as well.

"If there's nothing left to discuss, I'm leaving," he told them.

"Stop!" Gendo ordered him, but he kept walking away. "I want those swords, Third Child!"

"If you want them, try and claim them. Try to practice the art of caring about others without wanting something back from them. Try to think about something else besides yourself…if you even can."

Shinji left, and Gendo was fuming; he couldn't believe that his son had gotten some sort of one-up on him just because of a pathetic pair of steel sticks he got from off the streets.

Fuyutsuki, on the other hand, was actually impressed that Shinji had found a way to help people without the Eva, something his mother had worked on for years since Second Impact. The boy was defecting from what was originally intended without even realizing it.

-x-

"Ha!" Shinji yelled as he slashed at the water in the underground lake with the Tessaiga, causing two walls of water to rise up as a path was cut in front of him.

"Oh, my gosh!" He heard Misato gasp. "I can't believe you can do that with the sword!"

"I haven't had much practice with it, but I'm getting better at it," he told her, and then slashed at the lake water again, causing two water walls to be higher than the previous two. "Ah-ha!"

And she couldn't deny it. Misato definitely wanted Shinji at her wedding when this was all over.

 _If he can get rid of the remaining Angels with those swords of his, I'll even pay for his college education,_ she swore.

-x-

"…Is that so, Ikari?" SEELE 05 questioned in the next meeting, after being informed that the Third Child had returned to Tokyo-3.

"Yes," Gendo answered, although he refrained from telling the old men the whole situation regarding the boy's swords. "He refuses to hand them over."

"More like he refuses to hand them over to you, you mean," went SEELE 11 to him. "We've seen a video of the boy using one of the swords he has on the lake outside NERV HQ, and he appears to still be in training with it if he's able to create large walls of water."

"Ikari, this council has voted upon a further demonstration of what the Third Child is capable of," said SEELE 03 to Gendo. "The next Angel that appears, we want to see what the boy can do against it with his swords. If he proves successful in handling the situation, his absence to the Eva program will be overlooked."

"And if he can't?" Gendo asked.

"You're his father, aren't you?" SEELE 08 questioned him. "Be one and handle him if he can't."

If this was a reprimand, it was the worst one to be handed based solely upon his parental status.

"Tread with caution, Ikari," SEELE 01 warned him. "Don't do anything that will provoke the boy to disregard what's really at stake. Lately, you have been unable to separate the needs of the many from the desires of the few to the demands of the one."

When the meeting ended and the holographic monoliths vanished from the room, Gendo fumed again. He seemed to be getting the poor end of the excuses simply because he hasn't been the type of parent his son needed, not that he was willing to even try to be. There was no way he would been to the Third Child's will, regardless of what he wanted.

"You petulant brat," he muttered.

To be continued…

A/N: Ooh… Anyone suspects that there's no chance in Hell that Gendo will be invited to any events in the future?


End file.
